A Yellow Rose
by Dragon Panda
Summary: Tenten reflects on the death of a friend. Not all that great at summaries and this is my first story, so bear with me XDD. Based off an RP I did, so it probably doesn't make much sense. Sasuten FRIENDSHIP and mentioned Nejiten.


The old navy blue couch creaked as a young girl of about 16 decided upon it. Her grey plaid flannel pajama pants rustled as she drew her bare feet up to rest next to her. The medium sized TV that sat on a plain, brown, wooden table raised about four feet off the ground and a little ways away from the couch flashed from scene to scene of some random cartoon. The girl stared at the flashing box with blank chocolate orbs and the sound that it emitted fell upon deaf ears, her mind was elsewhere.

Tenten was the name of this girl. She was a shinobi of Konohagakure, the Village Hidden in the Leaves. She was known about her village and beyond as Konohas' top, and only, Weapons Mistress with deadly accuracy. She was also known as the teammate and training partner of Hyuuga Neji, a genius of his clan and one of the most desirable men in the village. Too bad for the fangirls she had already snatched him up.

However, this is not all about the bun-haired Weapons Mistress and her boyfriend, but about how she felt about what had conspired within the past twenty-four hours. That was what was plaguing her mind and had not allowed her to rest comfortably throughout the night. The happenings of the past day were not something her nor anyone else would forget anytime soon.

_Flashback….._

_Sasuke growled, blood spilling on the ground from his head as it rested ageist the rough surface of the prison wall._

_"Stop being emo Uchiha, theres no one left to feel sorry for you." Tenten spoke in a sneering tone filled with disgust. She stood in front of the bares of Sasukes cell, her earthy locks fell loosely about her, ending at her waist, and her blue dragon ANBU mask hid her emotionless face. Neji and Hinata stood behind her. Neji seemed as unfazed as ever, but Hinata looked to be quite nervous as she glanced about the high security prison, inching closer to her cousin and friend when she heard a noise to her left._

_Even after she drug his sorry ass back to Konoha, Tenten couldn't forgive him for nearly getting Neji killed, she hated him for it. Yes, that's right. It was Tenten who literally drug Sasuke back to Konoha after the Uchiha had attacked and nearly killed Shikamaru._

"_Naruto has left the village, I know you know where he went. Now tell me." She stated, crossing her arms over her chest as she watched the boy in front of her form behind her mask._

_Sasuke sighed softly as he pealed his head from the wall, whipping blood from his eyes so that he could see them properly.__  
__"If I knew would tell you, but unfortunately I can't. Naruto's seal is broken; Kyuubi is free of him now." He spoke, his voice strained and quiet._

_The three stared at him in disbelief, how in the world was he able to know such a thing? As expected, Neji was the first to come to his senses. _

_"You're not lying..." the Hyuuga spoke, frowning and knitting his eyebrows together as his lavender eyes glared at his rival. __  
__"No. I'm not.." was Sasukes reply, not even wavering under the strict gaze.__  
__"Uchiha, what connection does your clan have with the Kyuubi?" Tenten asked him, finally coming to her senses.__  
__Sasuke looked away for a moment, then spoke.__  
__"Years ago, before Kyuubi attacked the vilalge, Uchiha Madara called it here when the other council members didn't appoint him Hokage. Plus, after he grew infuriated, the village had decided to destroy _

_the Uchiha clan, since they were planning to take over. Anyways, he brought the Kyuubi, set it free to reek havoc and then, the fourth sealed it in Naruto's body. Apparently there were some things Naruto couldn't do. Now that it's free, the only people who could possibly take it on, let alone re-seal it in Naruto, would be Naruto, myself, or Gaara. You guys could probably distract it but it wouldn't do much good. Kyuubi's extremely powerful when here, no one really thought it'd come out again…."_

_His ramblings didn't make much sense to her ears but from what Tenten was able to piece together, things were not looking good. _

_Neji looked at Tenten, awaiting her next move but knowing there was only one option. They would have to take Sasuke and go find Naruto and the Kyuubi before something really bad happened._

_Tenten let out a deep sigh, filled with irritation._

"_The day just keeps getting better and better doesn't it...Come on Uchiha, your coming with us. But so help me, If you hesitate for one moment, try to run away, or lay a finger__on ANY of our friends, I will not hesitate to kill you on the spot. Is that clear?" Tenten said as she opened the door to his cell, grabbing Sasukes arm none to gently and hauling him to his feet before letting go and walking away._

_Hinata followed close behind the other girl after giving a blank look at Sasuke, who followed both girls with Neji right behind him._

_"Kyuubi is most likely to be heading towards Suna." Sasuke spoke as the four leapt threw the trees._

"_Why would it be going towards Suna?" Hinata asked quietly, turning her head to look at the Uchiha behind her._

"_Who the hell cares?! Lets just get this over with." Tenten growled as she increased her speed. She had become more and more agitated as time when by, she didn't like the idea of having to rely on Sasuke for information and clearly showed it. _

_The massive fox growled and lashed out at Gaara and Kankuro who leapt away just in time to avoid being crushed, landing next to their Konoha comrades. All the attacks that were thrown at the Kyuubi seemed to have no effect what so ever. _

_Sasuke looked up and the growling creature and then to the unconscious boy who sat on its head, knowing he hadn't a choice but to seal the Kyuubi away into Naruto.__  
__He was probably the only one that could._

_Tenten looked over at Sasuke and then to Kyuubi, she could see plainly in his eyes what he was thinking. Without a word she walked a ways away from the others and removed her mask, securing it to her left shoulder. She bit her thumb and made the necessary hand seals: Boar, Bird, Ram, Dog, Monkey. "Kuchiyouse no Jutsu!" she called slamming her hand on the earth bellow. After the smoke cleared, a massive blue dragon stood before her.__  
__"You called upon me, Tenten-sama-...Ahh, Kyuubi. Its been a long time." the dragon said in a deep roaring voice, looking over at the giant fox who was about his size if not slight smaller.__  
__"Yes Seigyoku. I need you to help him." Tenten said as she pointed to Sasuke. The dragon turned his head to the Uchiha and growled.__  
__"Why should I assist an Uchiha?" he questioned angrily.__  
__"Just do it! I'm not in the mood to explain myself!!" Tenten barked at the dragon who snorted and laid his head down next to Sasuke. "Get on" the dragon demanded._

_Sasuke climbed onto the dragon's head without question and the dragon rose so that it faced the angry fox. He began to make the hand signs for the forbidden jutsu:__  
__Snake, Boar, Sheep, Rabbit, Dog, Rat, Bird, Horse, and Snake.__  
__"Sealing Jutsu: Reaper Death Seal!"__He yelled and felt immediate pain as a Death God appeared behind him._

_All watched in astonishment and horror was Sasuke sealed the Kyuubi within Naruto from atop the blue dragon. It was a beautiful and yet terrifying experience all at the same time._

_Then both Naruto and Sasuke seemed to fall lifelessly down onto the ground as both dragon and fox disappeared from site, Sasuke lying next to his former blonde 'brother' and Naruto laying beside the Raven haired Uchiha. The fox now sealed within the blonde once again……..but at the expense of Sasukes life. _

_Everyone clustered around the pair and Naruto blinked his eyes open, looking over at his fallen friend. __"You...saved me...again...you bastard..." the blonde spoke as he was helped into a standing position by Hinata. The Uchiha didn't respond, no one had expected him to._

'_I hated you to the very end Sasuke, but by doing this you've made up for many past mistakes...' Tenten thought as both her and Neji supported Sasukes body and they all began to head back to Konoha. Yes, even Gaara and Kankuro. And if you had looked close enough, you would have been able to make out a small smile on Sasukes lips, one that he had given to Naruto before passing on._

_End Flashback…._

Tenten sighed and closed her eyes as she ran her fingers through her wet brown hair. She had been quite harsh on Sasuke and now regretted it, she shouldn't have taken her anger out on him, he was not the one she was truly upset with.

After pulling her silky locks into two matching braids she rose from her spot on the couch and made her way over to her bedroom. Quietly she changed from her pjs to a black skirt and shirt, one that was worn when one went to mourn the loss of a precious person. She needed to make amends with Sasuke.

Silently the Weapons Mistress walked through the streets of Konoha, gingerly cradling a bouquet of yellow roses in her arms. Thanks to the early hour, the streets were almost totally empty, save for a few early risers who enjoyed to walk or open shop at this time.

Eventually she veered sharply to the left and onto a small dirt path that lead through the woods and to her destination, the grave site of Uchiha Sasuke.

Upon arriving at the site Tenten cringed. There was….So. Much. Pink! Apparently Sasukes fangirls had been there for his headstone was suffocated in pink and red roses, boxes of candies, cards, and stuffed animals. Sighing the girl set down her roses and began the process of clearing away the pink, knowing that the raven-haired boy would go nuts if he saw this.

When Tenten had cleared the area of all things pink and frilly, she moved closer to the headstone and laid the yellow roses in front of it. She lowered her head, closed her eyes, and placed her hands together palm to palm.

"Sasuke, I wish to apologize for my actions and the way I treated you, it was not fare to you. I was so upset and hurt when Neji was injured when they were sent to retrieve you…………the man that had done it was long dead so I had no one to blame it on and I guess because the mission was centered around you, I just eventually came to hold you responsible for Neji nearly dying, even though you didn't even lay a finger on him. I know it's a bit late now, and quite frankly I feel a bit stupid talking to a headstone, but I would like to offer you these yellow roses as a sign of apology and friendship. Perhaps if things were different we could have really been friends…….." Tenten spoke quietly and softly. After a moment more she took a deep breath and pulled herself to her feet, feeling as if a heavy weight had been lifted from her chest.

With a small smile, she reached over and grabbed one of the candy boxes that had been set off to the side and began to walk back to her apartment.


End file.
